Can anyone help?
My name is Travis Jackson and I am an Iraqi Freedom veteran. I enlisted in the military for several reasons but primarily for money to go to college. Therefore, I completed a four-year enlistment a couple of years ago and back in January of 2006 I moved to Colorado to attend school at Platt College.
When I spoke with the Enrollment Advisor about a degree in Graphic Design, I was given a lot of information that I later found to be untrue. I was fed promises of “great job opportunities” and other similar lines. However, later on in a Job Skills class the Career Placement Advisor informed myself as well as the other students that “Graphic Designers are a dime a dozen” and that we should not expect to make any money. This was fairly deceiving to say the least and I was very upset. It appeared as though they would say anything to get students to enroll in school there. I understand that the school cannot control the market but when the Career Placement advisor completely contradicts what the Enrollment Advisor says, there is something wrong. Is this not fraud in the inducement?
It was at that time that I decided to cut my losses and transfer to another school, possibly for a different degree. However, I soon discovered that no other school would recognize any credits from Platt College, nor even a degree for that matter. In the brochure I received from Platt College upon enrollment it does say that they cannot guarantee transfer of credits but they fail to mention that one would almost be laughed at when trying to do so.
On top of all of this, the way Platt College is ran is completely wrong. They are the most unorganized people I have ever met. They don’t have the classes when the student needs them and that is unacceptable. As for me, a student receiving the GI Bill, this cost money. I was receiving a monthly check for my GI Bill that was based on the number of credit hours I obtain. As a full time student, I was receiving approximately $1,200 each month.
One month I received half of that amount and went in to the financial aid office to ask what was going on. It was then that I was informed that they didn’t have the classes I needed to so I was a half-time student. This is money that I will never see. I earned my GI Bill that entitles me to receive a check every month for 36 months of school. If I am a half-time student, I will receive half of a check and the other half is gone.
Another example of how unorganized this school is would be the fact that they can’t even give you a class schedule in a reasonable amount of time. Being that I have a full time job, I am a very busy person. I asked the school almost every day for two weeks what my next class schedule was and they couldn’t tell me. I was worried because I had a work schedule coming out soon. Platt College wasn’t able to give me a class schedule until the day before the class started. By that time my work schedule was already out and I was forced to miss a couple classes.
On top of all of this, Platt College recently started a nursing program that as overrun the school with more students than it can handle. On numerous occasions, my classes were interrupted by nursing instructors and students asking how long we would be, or if they could have our classroom. On most of those occasions, my class was then forced to move to another room. No where in the contract that I signed did it say this would ever happen. It was obvious to me that Platt College had shifted its focus to the nursing program. Was I not paying for an education just like the nursing students?
Where do I go from here? My GI Bill has virtually been depleted along with most of the money I saved up for school. On top of all of that, I am currently in debt about $22,000 in student loans as Platt College is a very expensive school. Am I just at a loss or is there something I can do? Is there anything anyone can do? I feel as though I have wasted not only the money but also the time; the two years of school plus the four years in the military.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for any help that anyone may be able to provide.
Sincerely,
Travis M. Jackson
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